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[x-daredevil.livejournal.com]

In the wake of not being invited to Sue's birthday, arguments and revelations.



Sue sat in the common room staring out of the window, a sketchpad draped across her knees as she idly flicked her pencil across the page as she sketched the scene down by the pool. Some of the teachers were relaxing and enjoying the sun, their last grasp at freedom before the term began, she thought with a grin.

"Whatcha doing?" Matt asked, wandering into the common room. He was bored, but tired. He hadn't been sleeping so well recently. He slept better overall since he had come to Xavier's, but insomnia was kicking his ass right now and he had no idea if it was from the withdrawal or something else.

Sue slammed the sketchbook shut glancing at the door guiltily as she heard someone speak behind her. Seeing it was Matt the girl felt an icy fist closing over her heart banishing he good mood of only a few minutes ago. "Nothing," she replied coldly as she stood up, "I was just leaving." Matching action to her words she started towards the door.

Oh. Well. That was unexpected. "What?" he asked, confused. Her heart rate had sped up then dropped almost as quickly and her breathing had deepened. Clearly, he had missed something to cause that. "What's wrong?"

Sue was looking anywhere but at Matt as she spat out her reply, "I'm fine." she replied. As she drew near Matt she made sure to keep her head facing away from him. "It's all perfect."

Facing away from him didn't stop him from 'seeing' what was happening via the sound waves, but it made it much more difficult. It wasn't as if he could see her expression anyways. "You're not fine," he stated, "You're pissed off. And I'm assuming at me. So why? What'd I do?"

Sue stopped nearly level with Matt, her shoulders shaking as her control started to slip. "What you did?" she asked in a small voice as she she turned to face him revealing the tears streaming down her face. "I thought you liked me," she continued in the small voice before a spark ignited in her eyes and she slammed her fists into his chest, "I thought you liked me!" she repeated in a louder voice glaring at him through he tears as she sucked in a ragged breath.

Oookay, he had definitely missed something. Something big. "I do!" he replied flustered, "I mean, yeah. Who said otherwise?" What the hell was going on!?

"You...you..." the blonde's voice trailed off as she took a moment to gather her thoughts so she actually spoke in clear sentences. "Wednesday was my birthday," she told the boy. "Tandy, Maddie and Hope all remembered. But you, who I thought liked me, you didn't say anything." He shoulders started to shake again as frustration and anger welled up inside of her, "I had a great day and I was really looking forward to seeing you, even just to say hi. But you just ignored everything."

Oh. Shit. "I went to tell you, but I couldn't find you and then I heard the party and stuff in the girls suite, but it didn't seem like I was invited and I didn't want to crash it and ruin your birthday," Matt explained. Not being invited to her party had stung, too. It wasn't that he was a huge party person, but no one liked being left out. "Sorry....uh, happy birthday? I didn't get you anything either..."

Sue took a breath and took a step back as she stared at Matt, "You wouldn't have ruined the party, you could just have walked in and made it," she replied shaking her head as she seized on the easiest part of the statement to grasp, He had come looking for her, and she had...."Sorry," she apologized scrubbing the back of her hand across her face, "I just assumed...you could have just rung me." Sue couldn't help but give a small smile as the ice which had suffused her at the sight of Matt melted leaving behind only relief.

"Stupid boys are stupid?" Matt offered hesitantly. "Don't throw rocks!" he had heard the statement 'boys are stupid throw rocks at them' before. "Um. It was otherwise good though, right? You're 16 now," that was a good age. Driving and stuff.

Sue nodded as she sniffled slightly, "Tandy and I went into the city to watch a movie, grab lunch and do some shopping. That was fun! I never did that, hire a limo and do whole experience," she admitted. "And then Maddie had the party when we got back." She looked up at Matt, "So you really like me?" she asked in a more normal tone of voice.

Matt had never done that either. "Um, yeah?" it was said more as a question even though it wasn't. He held his hand out to Sue, "Sounds like you had fun though. That's good."

Sue nodded as she looked at Matt and his outstretched hand for a moment before reaching out to take the hand. "I really did," she agreed.

"So...uh..." her hand was all soft and small in his. Was he sweating? He hoped not. That'd be embarrassing. "I guess I owe you a present or something. And uh, I need to get one for Wade too. Maybe you can help with that?"

Sue knew her heart was still racing, and her emotions were still all over the place between the anger and the relief but she couldn't help but smile at Matt. "Why do you need to by Wade a present?" she asked curiously as she entwined her fingers through his and stepped closer to him so their hands weren't outstretched anymore but fell comfortably between them.

He shrugged, "It was his birthday," he explained. "And he's gotten me stuff. Like...everything," he gestured vaguely to himself. Wade had sort of stepped in as a father figure, but had done so without replacing his father, which Matt appreciated. He'd taken Matt shopping when his clothes were too small, taken him to visit his father at the cemetery and generally been there. Things had been a little strained since Genosha, but that was just as much himself as it was Wade. Things had happened there.

Matt obviously cared for Wade, Sue realized, maybe like an older brother or even a father figure. The girl couldn't remember what it felt like to think of someone in that way, part of her was insanely jealous of Matt for a moment. Just a brief second before she remembered why she no longer felt like that anymore. "I might not be the best person to ask for advice about a present for Wade," she admitted sadly, "But I'd love to help you look, maybe we can find something he'd like.

"Yeah, I've got no idea either," Matt agreed, "but something. Somewhere. I think you'll find something. Or whatever," he hated gift buying. He was terrible at it.

"It can't hurt to look," Sue noted, "Who knows what you might turn up when you start shopping."

And if not, whatever. They'd get him something anyway. "My grounding for the summer is almost over if you wasn't to maybe go somewhere and do something?" Matt thought hard about date stuff. He'd never really been on one and he was sure a girl like Sue had been on tons. "Maybe dinner and a movie?"

"Sure!," Sue replied without hesitation, "I'd like that. When are you allowed to leave the mansion again? What would you like to go watch? Or Eat?" Sue knew she was babbling to cover her nervousness, she hadn't really been on that many dates, and never with someone she really liked.

Matt paused, thinking. "This weekend or just after, I think. I've passed all my drug tests, so they should let me out soon. But uh, I dunno. Whatever you want. Maybe some place with lots of desserts?"

"Maybe," Sue agreed "Perhaps we can find somewhere away from the rush of the crowd. Wait, what?" She cocked her head as she realized what Matt had said, "What drug tests?"

Oh. Crap. Someone had not told Sue about that. Matt wasn't sure if he was glad no one gossiped or hated it right now. "Um, yeah..." he replied. "I've been confined to campus all summer because I sorta got caught with drugs..." he trailed off trying not to make it sound all that bad. "and random drug tests and stuff. I'm through the worst of withdrawal now though" he felt pretty good generally speaking. Not quite back to normal, but he was getting there. He still wanted the drugs mentally though, even if it wasn't physically.

Sue stopped moving as she stared at Matt, she knew he had been confined to the campus but had just been told it was as a punishment. No-one had ever told her why, and she just assumed it was something like trashing one of the teachers cars or a prank gone wrong. Letting go of Matt's hand she turned to face him face on, "Why?" the blonde asked in a small voice, "Why did you take them in the first place?"

Matt shrugged, not liking that she'd let go of his hand, but he couldn't exactly blame her either,"I'm an addict," he admitted quietly. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell her this now after admitting that he liked her, but she had to like him warts and all, right? That was how it worked if you liked someone, "I came here from rehab. This time...some bad stuff happened a few months back. Don't know if anyone mentioned Genosha or not. I just...wanted the nightmares to stop and feel better. It worked, but I got caught in July. I'd only done it a month," he had no idea if that made a difference or not. Hopefully Sue wouldn't hate him now.

Sue wasn't sure how to feel about this revelation, "And are you feeling better now? With the nightmares I mean?" she asked, concern edging her voice. How were you supposed to respond in a situation like this, she had heard about Genosha, and it had sounded horrific. The girl didn't blame Matt for having nightmares, anyone would have, but found herself worrying about his method of coping. She didn't want Matt to end up like one of the drug users you were warned about in school.

He shrugged, "Yeah, mostly," Matt agreed. He had nightmares sometimes and insomnia. "It's sort of a one day at a time thing sometimes. It's no real secret that I've had these problems. I am trying to stay clean though. Really. I was clean for over a year until this."

There wasn't really anything Sue could say to that, she just felt so sad that Matt had been put through something so awful that it had driven him back to drugs. Silently she stepped closer to Matt wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "You know if you ever need to talk about anything you can come to me right?" she asked him, her voice slightly muffled, "if it ever gets on top of you again".

Matt hugged her back tightly, grateful for the hug and hadn't even known he'd needed it. "Thanks," he replied meaning it. Most likely he wouldn't do that, but the offer was appreciated. And the fact that she hadn't run away calling him a druggie or something like that. She was a good girl. He didn't want to corrupt that.